Monthly Archives: January 2012

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The acting police chief of San Fernando has been put on leave during an investigation into alleged ticket fixing on behalf of an aide to Rep. Howard Berman highlighted in a police video shown on YouTube. | Watch the YouTube video here/ Dana Bartholomew in the Daily News.

San Fernando Police Chief Tony Ruelas returned to work days before he retires Monday to put Acting Police Chief Lt. Jeff Eley on administrative leave, the city announced late Friday.

He was replaced Thursday by Acting Chief Lt. Robert Parks, a 28-year veteran of the department.

Labor leaders and city officials rallied outside an Atwater Village plant Thursday morning to call for more regulation of the private waste industry. | See photo gallery.Dakota Smith at the Daily News,

“Shame on you, shame on you,” shouted union members, who sought to embarrass executives at American Reclamation, which operates the waste sorting facility.

The company is under investigation by California Division of Occupational Safety and Health over worker conditions. The California Labor Commissioner is also investigating retaliation threats made against those who complain at the site.

Rebecca Mieliwocki, known for inspiring her seventh-grade English students at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank, was named Thursday as one of four finalists for the 60th annual National Teacher of the Year Award.Barbara Jones in the Daiiy News,

Mieliwocki was notified about two weeks ago, then sworn to secrecy, that she had made the final cut from among nearly 287,000 public school teachers in California, and an estimated 3.2 million nationwide.

If she is announced as the winner in April, she’ll be honored at a Rose Garden ceremony with President Barack Obama. She’ll then embark on a yearlong speaking tour, sharing with educators and others the infectious enthusiasm and unflagging optimism that have made her a favorite among students and colleagues.

With President Barack Obama’s new plan to streamline the visa process, the prospect of having more tourists arrive in Los Angeles left the head of a local business group feeling “ecstatic.” Christina Villacorte in the Daily News,

“Tourism is extremely important to all of us,” said Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

“With the Wizarding World of Harry Potter coming to Universal Studios as well, this is going to be a boom for Los Angeles.”

Amid mounting confusion and frustration over how cities control medical marijuana clinics, the state Supreme Court will try to bring some order to the chaos of local regulations. Daily News,

Representatives from both sides said Thursday they welcome the court’s intervention as a way to develop common guidelines on where dispensaries are allowed and how they will operate.

Measures adopted by the cities of Long Beach, Upland and Riverside will be reviewed but the court decision will also affect the city of Los Angeles, which has a measure in place similar to the Long Beach law and is now considering a ban on all dispensaries.